Process and apparatus for enlarging hollow metal articles



W. H. MASON. PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR ENLARGING HOLLOW METAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6. 1920'.

1,409,562. Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

2 SHE ETSSHEET 1 w. H. MAS0N.- PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR ENLARGING'HOLLOW METAL ARTICL ES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 6. 1920.

1,409,562. Patented Mar. 14,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

g1? IIHLLLEIIII UNETED TE I WILLIAM H. MASON, 0F PENSACOLA, FLORIDA.

. Application filed May 6,

To all whom it may 00mm:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. MASON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pensacola, in the county of Escambia and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Apparatus for Enlarging Hollow Metal Articles, of which the following is the speci- 'fication.

This invention relates to a method for enlarging hollow metal parts, and more particularly to the reclamation of hollow machine parts that have become too small to be of further use without enlargement, and to apparatus for reducing this method to practice.

As is well known various machine parts become more or. less changed in size from continued wear, machining, or the like, which ultimately renders them, or other cooperating parts, too small to further successfully perform their intended function; as for example, the reboring of an internal combustion engine cylinder increases its internal diameter or bore to such a degree that the piston head becomes too small to efficiently and successfully operate therein, thus necessitating a new head. Here-tofore such pistons that have become too small have been thrown away, and since the number thus rendered inadequate in size each year is-very great, it will be realized that the yearly loss from this source is stupendous. By the presentinvention these discarded pistons may be reclaimed by expanding them and increasing their size suificient to meet the requirements of the rebored cylinder. While I have particularly referred to theexpanding of pistons I wish it to be understood that-my invention is capable of application in the expanding of other parts than pistons, the only requirement being that the part be hollow and preferably of metal. Among the objects of my invention is to alter the'shape of metal parts so that worn or' discarded parts may be reclaimed for further use; further to expand hollow metal parts to increase their diameter or other dimensions to meet changed conditions; further to effect the expansion of hollow metal parts by filling the interior with a material having a greater coefiicient of expansion than the metal, and confining the filling material within the holl ow'so that its expansion will increase the size or alter the shape of the Specification-of Letters Patent.' Patented Mar, 14, 1922.

1920. Serial no. 379,257.

metal part when the part and filling are heated; further to provide novel apparatus for effecting the above results; and such.

for the application of heat to expand the.

piston. I

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through a median plane of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the piston and taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of a different form of metal part having my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 5 is a vertical' transverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4'.

Fig. 6 is a perspectlve view of a modified form of apparatus applied to a piston.

Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section through Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1-3 my invention is shown as applied to the piston 1, which has the usual hollow portions 2 and 3 and the alined apertures 4, through which extends the re-- movable pin 5, which also passes through the hole or eye of head 6 of rod 7 extending outwardly through .hollow 2. Bearing against the end 8 of the piston is, the' plate 9 having aperture '10 through which extends the threaded end 11 of rod 7 engaging the threads of which is nut 12 which as shown is adapted to be brought against plate 9 to -firmly clamp the same against the end 8v of the piston. Y

Prior to applying the plate 9 to the open end of the piston I fill the hollow interior of the piston with the filling material 13,-

Which may be fireclay, clay, certain earths, or other suitable material capable of greater demonstration and experiment.

bv tightening of the nut 12. The function,

of pin 5, rod 7, plate 9 and nut 12 is to securely confine expanding material 13 within the piston.

The piston with its filling material as last above dcscribedis then heated to a sufiiciently high temperature to place the metal of the shell of the piston in a pliable, yieldable, or expandible state. This temperature is maintained suificiently long to permit the filling material 13 to become sufiiciently heated to produce the desired expansion which being greater in material 13 than in the metal of the piston will, due to the pliable condition of the metal, cause the latter to expand and increase in size.

The inventor has proven this process to be feasible and successful by actual personal Under the old practice in the repair and overhauling of internal combustion engines each time the cylinder is rebored the piston must be dis carded, and a new one of a size to fit the rebored cylinder used in its place. Since there have been many thousands of internal combustion engines manufactured, and as each cylinder must be rebored as it becomes worn and the corresponding piston thrown away, it will be realized that the reclamation of this multitude of discarded pistons by expanding or enlarging them so that they may be used again in the rebored cylinders is a matter of great importance and in keeping with the present day need of conservation.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown my new process and apparatus as applied to the permanent expansion of a different article than a piston, the article shown being a cylinder comprising the body portion 14 having at one end the plate 15, and at the other the plate 9, which plates after the hollow interior has been tightly filled with the clay, fire clay, or other suitable expanding material 13 is clamped to the respective ends of body portion 14 by turning nut 12 upon the threaded end 11 of bolt 7 The whole will then be subjected to heat as described above to result in the ermanent enlargement or transformation 0 the cylindrical body 14.

While I have designated the permanent expansion by the dotted line a in Figs. 3 and 5, this is merely illustrative and is not intended to show exactly the amount of, or resulting shape from, such expansion, since the same will obviously vary somewhat in different cases.

In Figs. 6-8 I have illustrated a slightly modified form of apparatus in which in place of the single securing 'rod 7 of Figs.

1 3, I use two rods 7 and 1" each provided with a head 6 having an opening 20 ot a size to fit loosely over the bosses 21, respectively. These rods are threaded at their free ends which pass through openings 10 in plate 9 being secured in position by nuts 12 Over the inner end of each of the openings 4 through bosses 21 is placed a disc 22, secured in place in any suitable manner and which prevent the filling and expanding material 13 from entering open; ings i This construction gives an unobstructed and larger space between the bosses 21 to be filled with the filling material 133, and permits the same to exert a more. uniform expanding action at this part of the piston. The size after expansion is indicated roughly by the dotted lines (1 in Fig. 8.

While I have chosen a piston and an open ended cylinder to illustrate the reduction to practice of my invention, I wish it to be clearly understood that my new process is capable of use in permanently enlarging or altering the shape 0? many other forms and kinds of articles. Also whileI have referred to clays, fireclay and certain kinds of earth as filling and expanding material. I wish it understood that I may use in place thereofany other material having greater expansion than the metal of the article being treated if desired without departing from the spirit and essence of my invention.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. The process of enlarging hollow metal articles which consists in tightly filling the hollow space thereof with a material having a greater coefiicient of expansion than the metal, confining said material to said space, heating the whole sufficiently to render the metal pliable and to heat the filling, whereby expansion of the filling will cause permanent enlargement of the metal article;

2. The process of enlarging hollow metal articles, which consists in confining within the hollow of the article, a material of greater expansibility than the metal, and heating the whole to render the metal pliable and to expand the filling material and metal.

3. The process of altering the size of hollow metal articles which consists in confining within the same a material having a greater coefiicient of expansion than the metal, and heating the whole substantially as described.

4. The method of enlarging hollow metal articles, which consists in tightly filling the hollow space with a material having a. greater coefficient of expansion than the metal. then securing to the article a cover to confine said filling within said space, heating the article and filling. sufficiently to render the metal of the article pliable and to cause the filling to expand a greater amount than would be the normal expansion of the metal whereby to enlarge the article, and permit-- ting said article to cool and removing the filling material therefrom.

5. The method of enlarging hollow metal articles, which consists in tightly filling and confining within the hollow space firecla. or the like, and heating the article and fill in Apparatus for enlarging hollow metal articles comprising a removable closure for the open end of the hollow space, and means for securing the same in position.

- 7 Apparatus for enlarging hollow metal articles comprising a closure for the open end of the hollow space, said space being adapted to contain a filler of material having a greater coefficient of expansion than the metal and tightly filling the space, said closure being adapted to tightly confine the filler within the space, and removable means for securing said closure against the end of said hollow space.

8. Apparatus for enlarging hollow metal articles comprising a rod adapted to be secured to said article to protrude from the interior thereof, a closure plate movably mounted longitudinally of said rod, and means for securing said closure plate tightly in contact with the open end of said hollow article.

9. Apparatus for enlarging hollow pistons comprising a rod having a transverse opening therethrough adapted to receive a pin 7 passing through said opening and the wrist pin holes in the piston, said rod extending out through the open end of the piston and threaded, a closure plate longitudinally slidable on the rod, and a nut en aging said threaded portion and adapter? to firmly clamp said plate against the open end of the piston.

10. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of rods each having an eyelet of sufiicient size to pass over the wrist pin bosses on the interior of a pist0n,"a plate adapted to fit over the open end of the piston and provided with a pair of openings to receive said rods, and means for clamping said plate against said piston end.

11. Apparatus of the class described comprising a pair of rods each having an eye let of suiiicient size to pass over the wrist pin bosses on the interior of a piston, a plate adapted to"fit over the open end of the piston and provided with a pair of openings to receive said rods, means for clamping said plate against said piston end, and closure means for stopping the inner ends of the wrist pin openings of the piston. V

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.

WILLIAM H. MASON. 

